, also known with his Chinese name (), was the proprietor of the Uchiyama Bookstore, whose frequent visitors were both Chinese and Japanese intellectuals before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Uchiyama was a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Biography

Early life

Kanzō Uchiyama was born in 1885, in the village of Yoshii in Shitsuki District, Okayama. His father was the village headman and a member of the village assembly, while his mother also came from a scholarly family, and he was the oldest among four brothers and three sisters. During his school years, he was a rebellious student who often fought with his classmates and even teachers, and as a result was deemed a problem student by his father and the school and eventually dropped out. At the age of 12, he was sent out for his apprenticeship to

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

. To make a living, Uchiyama did many physically demanding jobs in

, doing part-time work at factories and delivering goods for shops. In 1901, he went to work for a textile wholesaler in

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

and worked there for ten years. At the age of 27, Uchiyama became a

. In 1912, Uchiyama first encountered Christianity. On January 31, with suggestions from Kotani Shōzaburō, a colleague of his, Uchiyama walked into Kyoto Church, where he met three people whom he came to see as role models. Uchiyama laid his foundation and faith for mission in Kyoto Church with connections to Niijima Jō, founder of Dōshisha University, who taught many graduates including Makino Toraji, a Pastor at Kyoto Church, who eventually became a life-long mentor of Uchiyama.

Early career

In 1913, Taguchi Kenkichi, a member of the church, the founder of Osaka-based pharmaceutical company Taguchi Santendō, later known as Daigaku Megusuri Santendo, asked Pastor Makino to find a member on a mission to sell Daigaku mekusuri (University Eye Medicine) in China. Uchiyama dislikes the environment where individuals have to lie in the Japanese business force at the time, thus with Pastor Makino’s persuasion, Uchiyama, at age 28, set off for

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

on March 24, 1913. The third role model Uchiyama sees is

Uchimura Kanzō was a Japanese author, Christian evangelist, and the founder of the Nonchurch Movement ( Mukyōkai) of Christianity during the Meiji and Taishō periods in Japan. He is often considered to be the most well-known Japanese pre-World War II pac ...

, a pacifist who releases monthly Christian magazines. Inoue Mikiko, aka Miki, was Uchiyama’s first wife, also a member at Kyoto Church. Miki’s father, an entertainer, became heavy in debt as a gambler. After Miki’s sister passed, the debt is on her shoulders. With the debt on her shoulders, draws her to the Bible and Christianity. When Taguchi Kenkichi asks Pastor Makino to find a wife for Uchiyama, Pastor Makino introduces Miki. Miki and Uchiyama quickly drawn to each other for having tyrannical or abusive fathers, and does not have a childhood. They were engaged on February 9, 1915 The couple married on January 9, 1916.

Shanghai and the Uchiyama Bookstore

Soon after getting married, Uchiyama and his wife returned to

from Japan for his work. Uchiyama's job required him to travel frequently between various cities in China, leaving his wife alone at their home in Shanghai, in a country whose language she doesn't know. Due to his upbringing, his wife wanted to contribute to the family and have an additional source of income. Moreover, Uchiyama did not want his wife to play the traditional role of a housewife merely. Therefore, the couple decided to open a

bookstore managed by Uchiyama's wife. They opened their Christian bookstore in their Shanghai home in Weishengli, Lane 1881, North Sichuan Road in 1917. The bookstore has size of eight-mat room, roughly 144 square feet, about the size of a single undergraduate’s unadorned room; it had a tiny attached kitchen and a second floor with an eleven-mat room. This bookstore is nominal to Japanese people living in Shanghai at the time, for there were only 3 other Japanese-run Bookstore in Shanghai: Nihondō, Shinkōdō, and Shiseidō. Additionally there were no stores specifically carrying

Christian books Christian media refers to Mass media, media that is Christian, or refers to various aspects of The North Sichuan Road train line extends from downtown

to the Shanghai International Settlement">International Settlement. In order to accommodate growing demand, in 1929, the bookstore moved to 2048 North Sichuan Road. Uchiyama even installed a

telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...

to take orders from all over China via the

postal service The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal sy ...

. This location remained Uchiyama Bookstore and salon until Chinese government requisitioned it on October 23, 1945. From 1923, Uchiyama's bookstore became a meeting place for Chinese and Japanese cultural figures, which Uchiyama named the "Mandan", and gradually developed into a meeting point for revolutionary forces. Uchiyama Shoten has not only been a platform for the growth of new culture in China, but has also contributed to the development of the Chinese and Japanese editing and publishing industries, and has become an important link for book publishing and cultural exchanges between the two countries.

Pioneers of Japan-China Friendship

As a Christian, Uchiyama's worldview and behavior contrasted sharply with that of his fellow Japanese. Uchiyama's membership in the Christian community not only fulfilled his spiritual needs, but also facilitated cross-cultural exchanges and understanding between Chinese and Japanese people. This has played a positive role in bridging the friendship between the two peoples. In the 1920s, thanks to Uchiyama's introductions, an increasing number of

Japanese artists This is a list of Japanese artists. This list is intended to encompass Japanese who are primarily fine artists. For information on those who work primarily in film, television, advertising, manga, anime, video games, or performance arts, please se ...

and intellectuals came to

. They interacted with Chinese literati, providing a platform for sharing information and fostering connections between Chinese students in Japan and Japanese writers traveling to Shanghai, all while cultivating profound friendships. Some of the notable individuals in this network included Tanizaki Junichirō, Kaneko Mitsuharu， Komaki Ōmi, Satomura Kinzō among others. These Chinese literati included

Guo Moruo Guo Moruo (November 16, 1892 – June 12, 1978), courtesy name Dingtang, was a Chinese author, poet, historian, archaeologist, and government official. Biography Family history Guo Moruo, originally named Guo Kaizhen, was born on November 10 or ...

Tian Han Tian Han ( zh, 田汉; 12 March 1898 – 10 December 1968), formerly romanized as T'ien Han, was a Chinese drama activist, playwright, a leader of revolutionary music and films, as well as a translator and poet. He emerged at the time of the ...

, Chen Baoyi, Feng Guangtao,

Ouyang Yuqian Ouyang Yuqian (; May 12, 1889 – September 21, 1962) was a Chinese playwright, Peking opera actor and writer, film screenwriter and director, and drama educator. He is considered by drama historians as one of the three founders of the modern Chi ...

, Yu Dafu, Wang Duqing,

Cheng Fangwu Cheng Fangwu (; August 24, 1897 – 17 May 1984) was a top level politician in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Before joining the party, he was active as an author of the new literature and a translator. After joining the CCP, he quickly rose ...

and others. It is for this reason that Uchiyama Bookstore has become a fashionable venue for Sino-Japanese cultural exchanges in Shanghai, and has risen to become one of the most famous bookstores in Shanghai, gathering Chinese and Japanese scholars and writers.

Uchiyama and Lu Xun

Uchiyama was a great and loyal friend to

Lu Xun Lu Xun ( zh, c=魯迅, p=Lǔ Xùn, ; 25 September 188119 October 1936), pen name of Zhou Shuren, born Zhou Zhangshou, was a Chinese writer. A leading figure of modern Chinese literature, he wrote in both vernacular and literary Chinese as a no ...

. Uchiyama met

in 1927, Lu Xun has a distinctive term for Uchiyama, calls him ''laobe,'' meaning “boss/proprietor” in Shanghainese, ''laoban'' in standard Mandarin. Uchiyama respects Lu Xun as ''sensei'', meaning "teacher" in Japanese. Both of them are concerned with Sino-Japanese relations, while Uchiyama much more than Lu Xun, for he utilizes the bookstore as a salon, a medium for promoting Japan-China Friendship. Fogel quotes "I am often tempted—but only tempted—to suggest that their friendship may have been based solely on Uchiyama’s extraordinary help in protecting Lu Xun (and

Xu Guangping Xu Guangping ( zh, 許廣平, j=heoi2 gwong2 ping4, s=许广平, t=許廣平, 1898 – 1968), courtesy name Shuyuan (simplified Chinese: 漱园; traditional Chinese: 漱園), infant name Xia (simplified Chinese: 霞; traditional name: 霞), was ...

and their child) on numerous occasions, even at the potential risk of his own life, and Lu Xun’s equally extraordinary sense of gratitude." After Lu Xun delivered his views after founding

League of Left-Wing Writers __NOTOC__ The League of Left-Wing Writers (), commonly abbreviated as the Zuolian in Chinese, was founded in Shanghai on 2 March 1930 and subsequently established branches in Beijing, Tianjin, and Tokyo, Japan. Upon creation, the group had over 50 ...

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

branch of the GMD issued an arrest warrant for him in late March 1930. Uchiyama and Miki helped Lu Xun’s family to hide on the second floor of the Uchiyama Bookstore for a month. In May, Uchiyama moved Lu Xun's family to the second floor of the Ramos Apartments (now Chuanbei gongyu), as it would be unsafe for Lu Xun's family to live in a bookstore with Chinese customers come and go, not to neglect the fact of GMD spies. Uchiyama rented the flat under his name to protect Lu Xun. In January 1931, many of the young leftist and

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

writers were arrested by the GMD. Lu Xun was severe in danger. Uchiyama assisted to find Lu Xun's family a residence in Huayuanzhuang, an apartment belonged to Yoda Hōban, one of his Christian friends resided in Shanghai. This place was ideal for GMD less likely were able to arrest or assassin Lu Xun in foreign owned places. A month or two later in February or March, Lu Xun wrote a poem simply named “Zeng Wuqishan” (A Poem Presented to Uchiyama) to thank Uchiyama's help being such an honest and helpful friend. By 1932, Uchiyama had become the sole publisher of Lu Xun's works. By April 1933, Lu Xun's family moved to Scott Road, just blocks away from Uchiyama Bookstore, with expenses all under the bookstore. This is the place Lu Xun spent his last three years of life, and this location eventually became the residence to Lu Xun Memorial Museum. After Lu Xun's death in 1936, Uchiyama did not give up on the publication of Lu Xun's writings and compilations. It was Uchiyama's dedication that earned him the prestigious status of "administrator of Lu Xun's legacy" in the cultural circles of both China and Japan. To this day, Mr. Uchiyama's name, "Friend of Lu Xun," is still remembered. Uchiyama's efforts to disseminate and protect Lu Xun's writings have resulted in a remarkable friendship.

Later years

Uchiyama celebrated thirtieth wedding anniversary with wife Miki on January 9, 1945. Uchiyama celebrated his 60th birthday on the 11th, his ''kanreki'', meaning to start life again at 60 in Japanese. Sadly, Miki passed away just 2 days later on the 13th. Uchiyama felt grieve and ponder through the next phase of his life. Seeing his friend in grief, Tsukamoto Suketarō, one of his close friends suggested Uchiyama build a double grave so that he and Miki would be buried together. Uchiyama had epitaph inscribed. After Japan's surrender in August, Uchiyama Bookstore remained open until October 23, 1945. Uchiyama deported back to Japan in 1947. After the war, he became the first head of the Japan China Friendship Association. After WWII, Japan was defeated. The Chinese government immediately nationalized Uchiyama's bookstore and deported Uchiyama himself. Uchiyama had to return to Tokyo, Japan, where he began a new life. He worked for a while at the Tokyo branch of Uchiyama Shoten and continued to promote friendly relations between China and Japan through the publication of the magazine "Mandan". The Japan-China Friendship Association (JCFA) established on October 1, 1950 in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. He was the first Chairman of the association. He also was the founding member of the Japan-China Trade Promotion Association. The same year, Uchiyama married Kato Masano from Moji, a port city connected with

Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...

. Masano is Miki’s friend, they were former women of the

entertainment district An entertainment district is a type of arts district with a high concentration of movie theaters, theatres or other entertainment venues. Such areas may be officially designated by local governments with functional zoning regulations, as well as ...

. After their marriage, Uchiyama and Masano moved in Kyōdō kita area of Tokyo’s Setagaya ward. They join the

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a socially liberal mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Restorationist, Continental Reformed, and Lutheran t ...

near their home, with Murata Masasuke, Uchiyama’s old friend in Shanghai being the Pastor. During the period from 1949 to 1972, Uchiyama, as a director of the JCFA, visited China many times to communicate with Chinese intellectuals despite the fact that China and Japan had not yet established formal diplomatic relations. Under the very sensitive and complicated environment of the relationship between the two countries, Uchiyama, despite all the difficulties and obstacles, actively promoted cultural exchanges and friendly exchanges between Chinese and Japanese people. Uchiyama often hosted visitors from China in JCFA, including Li Dequan,

Liao Chengzhi Liao Chengzhi (; 25 September 1908 – 10 June 1983) was a Chinese politician. He joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1928, and rose to the position of director of the Xinhua News Agency; after 1949, he worked in various positions related to f ...

, and

Death and burial

On September 21, 1959, Kanzō Uchiyama passed away in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. He is buried in the

Wanguo Cemetery. At his funeral, attendees included

, and others, among whom

was also present.

Notable Works

"Thirty Years" 1947 ''Friends with the Same Blood Running Through'' (''Onaji chi no nagare no tomo yo'') 1948 ''China’s Past and Present'' (''Heikin yūsen: Chūgoku no konjaku'') 1955 ''Recollections from the Past'' (''Kakōroku'')

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uchiyama, Kanzo 1885 births 1959 deaths Japanese booksellers Japanese Christian pacifists People from Okayama Prefecture Activists from Okayama Prefecture